Magazine shipping charge squeeze on eBay
October 31st, 2008 | by mbhunter |
I was revising the prices of some of my items on my eBay store and noticed that eBay has taken keen notice of inflated shipping charges. EBay charges sellers fees based on the final sale price of the item but not on the shipping, so it has taken aim at sellers who inflate their shipping charges in order to pay smaller final value fees.
I noticed the crackdown in two different places:
- Revising the price of a three-magazine lot. EBay warned me that my shipping price seemed high for the type of item I was selling.
- Revising the price of a single magazine. EBay now has imposed a maximum shipping charge for a single item “based on what other sellers are charging and what buyers consider reasonable.” The maximum shipping fee I’m allowed to charge for a single magazine is $5.00. If I were to have mandatory insurance, it would have to be included in the $5.00.
Now, at first glance it may indeed seem reasonable that a magazine could be shipped for $5.00 within the US. I wouldn’t fault anyone for thinking that, but unfortunately this just isn’t the case.
United States Postal Service regulations state that magazines (outside of the periodical rates allowed to publishers) cannot be shipped either by Media Mail or by Bound Printed Matter. Magazines cannot be shipped by Media Mail because they almost always contain advertising. Magazines cannot be mailed as Bound Printed Matter because of an explicit disallowance in the Domestic Mail Manual, Section 363.3.1h. First-class mail, Parcel Post, and Priority Mail (as well as more expensive services) are OK.
First-class mail has a weight limit of 13 ounces. The minimum charge for Parcel Post is $4.55. Priority Mail has a flat-rate envelope available for $4.75 if I pay for the postage online, but these envelopes are not big, and if the magazine cannot fit in the envelope and it weighs 1 pound, 1 ounce or more, I’m over the $5.00 limit and have to take a loss on the shipping.
So, where does this leave me? Well, I don’t really have much choice except to transfer the cost to the price of the item. I’m not on eBay to lose money on every sale. Nonetheless, raising my prices makes me less competitive.
It makes me really uncompetitive, though, with PowerSellers that ship by Media Mail all the time. I won’t be a jerk and link to them here, but some of the top eBay sellers in the Magazine Back Issues category ship by Media Mail. (Packages can be inspected at any time, and I’ve heard of some post offices charging the recipient Express Mail prices for items shipped by an improper method.)
So does eBay just not get it? I think it’s a tough problem to solve, and they probably do a pretty good job at determining reasonable shipping charges for most items. Magazines are a strange product to ship, as I’ve outlined above. It’s more expensive than most people think to follow the rules in shipping magazines. Several of the biggest sellers don’t ship by the rules, and besides, people are used to having their magazine subscriptions just show up. It’s not free to mail magazine subscriptions, of course, but it appears free to the customers. Basically, shipping magazines need special consideration for allowable shipping charges because there are restrictions on how they can be sent.
Oh well, I suppose I can make cheap Priority Mail shipping a feature of purchasing from my store instead. Turn lemons into lemonade and all that.
12 Responses to “Magazine shipping charge squeeze on eBay”
By Money Beagle on Oct 31, 2008 | Reply
Overall, I applaud eBay’s point here. I’ve often been very frustrated with purchasing online (eBay and elsewhere) because what looks like a great deal turns into an OK deal once shipping and handling costs are revealed. It seems many retailers and sellers make their profit not on the item but within the shipping and handling area. I have abandoned many a transaction simply because I think that there is gouging going on with the shipping and handling costs. Before I get yelled at, I do understand that there is time that goes into selling and shipping the item, and I am willing to pay for that, but just not to the tune of the 20-30% (or more) markups of the actual item price that are sometimes standard.
It looks like eBay is starting to address this, but based on your complaint, they probably will need to adjust this and identify the quirks that are sure to be revealed as time goes on. Hopefully you can bring this to their attention and they’ll work on re-adjusting the baselines that they’re using.
By Jerry on Oct 31, 2008 | Reply
I had this happen when I was selling a FRAMED WW2 recruiting poster on eBay… they said that my shipping was too high compared to other posters being sold which did not include the frames! I ended up lowering the shipping cost (against my better judgement), but then the transaction ended up costing me 75 cents with packing and insurance, and I didn’t make a dime! It’s a good idea, because some people are trying to rip customers off, but in my case it was totally misplaced.
Jerry
By Nancy C on Oct 31, 2008 | Reply
Please check out ShipGooder.com for your next ebay shipment.There is no registration or cost for your inquiries and you will be given a range of price and service options.
If you are an ebay seller, please check out the shipgooder tools available for free on the ShipGooder.com website.
Regards,
Nancy C
By Shawn Levasseur on Nov 2, 2008 | Reply
Are you sure that you still can’t use the media mail rate?
I think the prohibition on items with advertising is only to prevent the publisher from using the rate. Aftermarket collectable sales can still use the media mail rate.
By Michele on Nov 2, 2008 | Reply
I was told by my postal rep that it does not matter if the magazine is current or 50 years old, it cannot be sent by media mail.
I occasionally sell books on ebay but have not since the new rules took effect.
I have a lot of old quilting books that are oversized and some weigh 2 pounds or more. I cannot ship and properly package these books for less than $6 yet I am only allowed to offer them with $5 shipping. I get that ebay is trying to eliminate the sellers that sell dvds or books for a penny then charge 14.95 for shipping, and I commend them for that. Its a long time coming, but limiting casual sellers to this is going to send a lot of sellers away.
By Shawn Levasseur on Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
I would ask for a second opinion. Because I receive comic books from eBay sellers and get them via Media Mail all the time, and comic contain advertising.
By mbhunter on Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
Money Beagle: Right. I always had reasonable shipping charges but they soon will force me to take a loss on the shipping. This just means more fees for them.
Jerry: Wow, that’s too bad. EBay’s interest is fees. I’ll play the game (lower my shipping) but I think it will hurt me because others don’t play by the rules.
Shawn: A brief advertisement for a related upcoming book (say for the next issue of the comic or for a complilation) is usually acceptable. An ad on every other page as is typical of many magazines is not.
Michele: That was my understanding too. One thing I’ve found about the USPS is that the rules are there, they may be subject to interpretation, and might not be enforced all the time. (I guess that’s true of just about anything.)
BTW your quilting books can be sent Media Mail I would think. As long as you have one method under the $5, you can have others over $5.
By mag seller on Nov 4, 2008 | Reply
h. Consist of mailable matter that is neither mailed or required to be mailed as First-Class Mail nor entered as Periodicals (except as permitted under 3.2 or permitted or required under 707.7.9).
It seems to me that the Bound Printed Matter prohibition of magazines would depend on the definition of “entered as Periodicals.”
If a magazine title is no longer being published, is it “entered as Periodicals?”
What if it never had a Second-Class (Periodicals) mailing permit in the first place?
Did the BPM mailing standard change recently or have they always been that way? Ten years ago I was mailing a lot of old magazines at the BPM rate.
By Bob on Apr 15, 2009 | Reply
I have talked to several postal employees and you are not allowed to ship magazines with advertising via media mail, regardless of when it was published. Some specialty magazines/issues don’t have ads, so they are magazine format, but are OK for media mail. It does make this a harder format to sell. One idea we do is to try to get bundled purchases (free or reduced shipping on the 2nd, 3rd item) but that is harder to set up on Amazon.
By Just Sayin on Jun 7, 2009 | Reply
Aren’t the Priority Mail envelopes Flat Rate?
They used to be flat rate – and a seller once crammed 12 magazines into one of those envelopes! – did that change?
p.s. My favorite Priority Mail anecdote:
An eBay seller bought (from an individual hoarder) an enormous hoard (approx 2 million) “wheat” cents and the coins were shipped by the hoarder in Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes. The boxes weighed a ton (at 153 cents per pound, the coins weighed probably about 6 tons) but the shipping was super cheap!
By mbhunter on Jun 8, 2009 | Reply
Just Sayin: Yes, they are flat-rate, but the postal service has detailed rules about how these are to be sealed. Specifically, they need to be sealed with the adhesive given with the envelope. I have gotten flat-rate envelopes with all kinds of tape on them, but just because one seller does it, and all of the intervening post offices don’t care, doesn’t mean that I can get away with it. Post offices can, and do, refuse to deliver packages that don’t follow the rules.
By Auction Typos on Jun 23, 2009 | Reply
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